Lessons Learned
by LeBratPrincess
Summary: Co-Authored with DrowsyFantasy. Prt 8 of the Not Over Yet series. On Halloween the A-Team helps two brothers and Charissa learns her lesson about what it means to be part of the team.
1. Chap 1: Little Boy Lost

**Disclaimer:** Not ours. Nuff said.

**Authors' Notes: **Finally we've made it to our first Holiday fic. We will warn you this is the shortest main line story we've written and it moves fast too. Basically jumps right on in. We hope you enjoy it.

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**Lessons Learned**

_Part 8 of the Not Over Yet series_

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It was a like being in a different world, Fall in D.C. was crunchy leaves, crisp cool air and damp evenings by the fireplace. In L.A. the weather was different it was still vaguely warm as though it was trying desperately to hold onto that summer feeling. It was weird to say the least that on All Hallow's Eve it was still roughly 90 degrees outside at ten pm and kids were still trick or treating.

Charissa however could care less, she was pressed firmly into Face's side and trying hard not to tuck her head against his shoulder or squeal as the horror movie played out on the screen in front of them, "Why do they never turn on the lights in these damn things?" She muttered and cringed as the bad guy serial killer creep began to chase the lead actress across the screen.

"Because it's a horror film and it would spoil the plot. Plus, this is John Carpenter's Halloween." Face pointed out, stretching his legs out to get more comfortable. "They had a shoestring budget and the special effects are pretty much lighting tricks." he glanced over his shoulder at the window. "Damn. You're still going?"

Murdock smiled, a piece of candy corn on each tooth. He swallowed, giggled with the massive amount of sugar, then put his glow-in-the-dark fake vampire fangs back in and gently dabbed blood around his lips and chin. "Yup! There's still so many kids coming by the center!"

They had all gathered at the community center that B.A. helped out at, Murdock insisting that Face wouldn't get any trick-or-treaters up at his penthouse, "But that's why I got it" Face had said.

"Yay for Cheap thrills." She wanted to accuse Face of secretly enjoying the fact she was not a big fan of horror films, "Sad part is I've seen this one… I think it's one of the first horror flicks I saw as a kid." She hid her head again and then peaked to watch someone get killed, she didn't mind the violence just the random jumpy parts, "Kids trick or treat late in these parts." She was glancing back at Murdock as well who she knew wouldn't be getting any sleep tonight thanks to the sugar high he was on.

"They go til midnight round here." B.A. chimed in, as he happened by, dressed in some sort of butcher like garb, "haunted House is almost ready to close up. You sure y'all don't wanna go through it?" He grinned at Charissa.

"No. I'm good thanks." She glared at the big man, shaking her head furiously.

B.A. laughed, "Well my break is up. Back I go." He grabbed some of Murdock's candy corn as he moved passed him and popped them in his mouth.

Murdock pouted at the loss of his candy, then grinned and headed back to the door with the bowl. "Whooooo wants some caaaaaaaa-" he was suddenly silent when he noticed that the child who'd appeared in the doorway looked about to be sick. "Hey there, little guy, you all right?" Murdock put the bowl on a table and rested his hands on the kid's shoulders. "You look real pale..."

Charissa laughed a little at Murdock's enthusiasm, but the second he mentioned something was wrong, she shifted on the sofa and peered over it, "Did someone eat too much candy already?" She quirked a brow and got a glimpse of the kid around Murdock… he didn't look green, just pale and worried to her. Secretly she welcomed a chance to get away from the damned movie and climbed over the back of the sofa and walked over next to Murdock curiously, "Hey, what's wrong kid?" She didn't mind kids but when they were like this she had no idea how to act around them or what to do really.

Face paused the DVD and peered over the back of the couch as the kid began to cry silently and looked up at Murdock. "It's my b-big brother!" he sniffed out. "He's - the bad guys took him, they want him to be a bad guy too..."

"Bad guys?"

"Ricky an' Andrew an' Simon, an' that big gang..."

Charissa quirked a brow and glanced up at Murdock… this didn't sound good at all, "Where were you when they took him?" She knelt down, trying to gather information from the very upset child as she looked back at Face and motioned with her head in a way to suggest to go find B.A. and Hannibal, especially since B.A. might know something about all of this considering he dealt with a lot of the kids in the area.

Face took the hint and went to find the others as the kid swallowed and looked up at her. "I was gettin' candy from Ms. Hendricks, she was givin' me some Reese Pieces an' she looked up an' said, 'What's Bobby doing with those boys?'"

"And that was the last time you saw him?" She reached out and drew the boy carefully inside and stood guiding him towards the sofa to sit down, "Is there anything else you can tell us?" She asked gently and nervously not wanting to upset the poor kid anymore.

B.A. spied Face looking around for him, he seemed to look like something important was going on… of course first thing that came to mind was Lynch had shown up. Rolling his eyes he approached the Lieutenant deciding to have a bit of fun with him and snuck up slowly and quietly before yelling as loud as he could once he was directly behind him.

"Ahhh!" Face yelled in shock and alarm. He swung out with his fist and managed to punch B.A. in the nose before realizing who it was. "Dammit B.A., don't do that!"

Murdock frowned at the men jumping around, and returned with a tissue box for the kid. "So your big brother is with a buncha bad kids now huh?"

B.A. lightly stumbled back and checked his nose, no blood thank goodness but Face did have a good punch, "You've been workin' out haven't you." He muttered and continued to rub his nose here and there, "What's goin' on?"

Charissa's mind was already working; she knew she could possibly get answers faster than four men walking around on Halloween. She glanced up as Murdock returned and stepped closer to him, "I got the area where his brother was last seen out of him. Stay here with him and wait for the rest of the guys; I'm going to go see if I can do some detective work. I can use my DCIS badge to get people to talk to me." She knew Murdock wasn't going to like her idea at all but before he could protest she was out the door and headed down the street.

"I've been doing Hannibal's special training program." Face said, glancing at their boss, who had come in from handing out candy to see what was going on.

Murdock balked. "Hey, wait!" but it was too late. She had already gone. As the other guys came into the entrance hall, he turned to them. The kid was hugging his leg. Murdock picked him up and put him on his shoulders. "Cap'n Sosa's gone to try and find this young'un's older brother, it's apparently gang initiation night. She told me to stay." he gave them a dry look.

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**And we're off! Stay tuned, updates will come quicker this time so we can have this fully posted before All Hallow's Eve hits. :)**

**Don't forget to review and Murdock will share some of his candy corn... if he has any left. **


	2. Chap 2: Making the Rounds

**Authors' Notes: **Behold another update! Trying to figure out how to spread this out just right so it ends on Halloween or the day before. So look for an update every other day or the next day. Should work out right somehow.

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A lone woman walking around Los Angeles alone in the late hours of the night wasn't exactly the smartest thing to do. But Charissa figured she could handle it, she had training and a gun at her disposal. She kept to lighted areas and kept an eye on everything.

The first house she came up to in the area the kid had told her she walked up and knocked politely. She was greeted by an elderly woman, "Hi. I'm looking for a group of kids that might've been seen in the area earlier tonight…"

"You're looking for that gang. You're crazy, best leave them alone. They don't like cops, especially women cops."

Charissa shook her head, "I'm not a cop. Have you seen anything going on tonight, anything suspicious?" She watched the elderly woman think for a moment and then sigh.

"One of the kid's younger brother came trick or treating here earlier said something about his brother missing. I told him to goto the Center, he'd find help there." The lady launched into a little more information after that and Charissa mentally took notes.

B.A. frowned, "She's crazy." He said with a shake of his head and looked down at the kid worriedly, he hadn't seen him before… but he knew worried when he saw it, "It's gonna be alright, we'll fix this kid." He promised and began to get out of his scary butcher's costume until he was standing there in jeans and a sleeveless shirt.

Hannibal took off his magician's costume and got back into his regular clothing, wishing he could have a cigar but knowing he couldn't smoke inside the community center.

Murdock got the kid a juice box and tried to coax a phone number out of him so that he could maybe contact the parents if they needed to.

Face shut down the movie and touched the kid's hand gently with a wince as he pulled together a bag of things, waiting for Hannibal to tell them what the plan was.

The lady invited her in to wait for her friends, but Charissa politely declined, "Thanks, you've helped us out a lot. I'll be careful, don't worry about me." She assured the elderly woman as she turned and left, noticing how fast she was to shut her door and lock it up tight. It made Charissa feel a little nervous as though the old woman knew something more that she wasn't saying. She moved onto the next house and got the door slammed in her face, and the one after that she got nervous glances and a polite "please go away." She kept trying however and failed to notice the fact she was being watched as she went about her business.

B.A. glanced at Hannibal and knew that Sosa was in big trouble, the woman needed to learn she was part of a team now and she wasn't the one calling the shots. He shook his head silently again and waited as well for instruction.

Hannibal fiddled with his fingers for a moment, then straightened up. "B.A." he instructed. "I want you to get the van. We ought to go on foot but we may need a swift escape. Murdock, we can't bring the kid with us, but we can't leave him here. Are there any of the older kids we trust who can stay with him until we get back?"

Murdock nodded. "Some of the all-stars are playing basketball in the gym, I'll go get them. Maybe they'll teach him how to perfect his free throw."

B.A. nodded, "Alright, plus we got weapons stashed up in there too, if we need'em." He headed out and a few moments later was waiting outside the entrance at the curb with the van for further instruction on where they were going to start next. He noted how quiet Face was being, and his quietness was more unnerving than their C.O.'s.

The streets were pretty much deserted now; it was a little after one am and all the good little ghosts, goblins and ghouls were at home tucked into bed and sneaking their collected sweets. She kept a leisurely pace as she walked, her senses kicking in as she approached the alley that the woman said the gang frequented. In the back of her mind, Charissa knew she was going to probably get herself into some serious trouble and that she should wait for the guys… she also had a sinking feeling that her trouble was probably just beginning as she heard some rustling behind her and whirled around to see nothing but shadows and streetlamps.

Face felt extremely uneasy about the whole thing. He knew Charissa could handle herself - hell, she had handled herself pretty damned well in the past. But this was her, alone, on Halloween night, heading out to a gang that they didn't know how big it was. Not to mention it was full of boys with something to prove. "Hannibal..." he said, and when his C.O. looked over he didn't need to say anything else. The colonel was ready to go. Face could swear he was making a "lock and load" gesture, but his hands weren't moving.

B.A. got into the van and followed nearby for back up and as the getaway car or van rather. He kept flexing his hands on the wheel, flexing and unflexing as he kept an eye out for trouble and for their other Captain, the wild card. Even Face wasn't this unpredictable and the man was a con artist. He knew Hannibal was not happy, they all knew it and he knew Sosa was in for it when they found her unless… the Sergeant shook his head, he didn't want to think that way. He knew she'd be alright; she had to be for all their sanities' sake.

She took a deep breath and kept moving, one hand near the back of her jeans where her gun rested in its inner pants holster just in case. She felt uneasy, like this was indeed a very, very bad idea.

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**What's going to happen? Will the guys find Charissa before the gang does? Just how mad is Hannibal?**

**Stay tuned and find out!**

**Thanks for reading guys and reviewing, we love hearing from you. :)**


	3. Chap 3: Trick or Treat

**Authors Notes: **Thank you to all of you that are reading! Hope you all have awesome plans for this weekend. :)

Now on with the show.

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They piled into the van after Murdock had made sure that the little boy would stay with the basketball players. He sat in the back with Face while Hannibal rode shotgun next to B.A.

They went over the plan as Hannibal relaxed into his cigar: they'd find where Sosa had gone, and would observe to see where the boy was. This was a search-and-retrieve mission, and they'd try not to hurt anyone, since they were dealing with a bunch of teenage boys.

B.A. nodded, "So we just knock'em around a bit if they don't behave." He could handle that, they probably needed the discipline anyhow.

She eyed the alley before her and glanced back… it was a dead end street, this being the only way onto the next or turn around and go back. She swallowed hard and turned to do just this, go back and take the long way around. It would be wiser, but as she started up the street she noticed a group of five fairly good sized teenage boys blocking her path. On instinct she moved to cross the street, keeping an eye on them as she moved when suddenly three more advanced from between two houses. They were going to give her no option but to go through the alley or them… essentially she was being herded. Not good.

Hannibal nodded in agreement. "And if they won't listen, well, we're big boys too." he glanced at Murdock.

The mad pilot grinned. "Got it, bossman."

Face sat uncomfortably silent beside his friend. They were approaching the area of town that was not very nice nor well-lit. Cautious, he looked down every alley and street.

She stood in the middle of the street feeling like she was in some old western stand-off. She knew no one would help her, she was alone in this and she wasn't about to run scared to some stranger's front door and knock fanatically anyhow. She watched as they moved forward both groups, making the choice for her, turn around and do what we want you to do. Fine. She turned and moved her hand away from her gun not wanting them to know she was armed and stalked towards the alley. Her purposeful walk earned her a few cat calls, but she ignored them as she entered the alley and felt them right behind her as three more came forward from the other end, "Are you guys going to dance for me now?" She joked, but of course none of them got it.

She felt one of them move up behind her, instinctively she whirled around, and instantly found herself being held in place by strong hands, "Stupid cops. Always sniffing around here and this time they send us a bitch to play with."

Charissa didn't struggle, but she stood there defiantly, "I'm not a cop."

"Hey, she's got a nice piece back here." One of the guys holding her exclaimed as she felt him pull her gun from its hidden holster and hold it out, "Small but looks like it'd pack a punch."

"Check her for more." The obvious leader instructed and she rolled her eyes as they attempted to frisk her, it ended up feeling like she was being felt up by fish.

"Nothin' else but a weird badge. She's right she's no cop…"

"I'd be careful with that if I was you, it's government property."

This made them all laugh, "You a fed then?"

Charissa sighed, "We playing twenty questions here?" She took that moment to move and managed to send one of her restrainers into the wall of the alley.

"Whoa. Woman's got moves." The leader told the kid she had thrown and then shoved her back against the wall hard enough to make her vision swim.

"There!" Face pointed, causing B.A. to jerk in alarm with the sudden explosion from the otherwise-silent man.

Murdock grabbed his cap and looked out the window: Sosa was indeed being manhandled - and thrown against a wall.

Hannibal barked sharp orders, getting out of the car and grabbing a flare gun, among other tools.

B.A. grumbled, "Damnit! I almost tossed myself through the windshield." He muttered and followed the orders given like the well oiled machine he was.

She managed to keep from sliding down the wall as she watched them discuss something, point at her and then push one of the smaller members forward.

"You wanna be part of us, you gotta take care of her. Be creative, Bobby." He warned and stepped back with the other gang members and watched.

"You don't want to do this Bobby; your little brother is worried about you." She explained calmly, but inwardly she was scared… she had no idea what they'd do if he didn't follow through or what he'd try if he did.

Bobby hesitated and looked back at the gang, he was doing this to protect his family right? He glanced back to the woman, she was pretty nothing overly special but he was sure she probably had someone being the looker she was. He swallowed hard, his mouth dry… he could just rough her up, would that be enough?

Suddenly one of his soon to be "brothers" came up to him and placed her gun in his hand, "Just an idea." He offered giving Bobby few pats on the back.

"You don't wanna do that kid. None of ya do." B.A.'s voice cut into the moment as Charissa looked up at the big dark skinned man with a pale face and relieved eyes.

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**And the Calvary arrives just in time!**

**Will the gang stand down? Or will B.A. get to rough'em up? And will Bobby side with the gang or step back? **

**Stay tuned to find out!**

**Don't forget to review, we love hearing from our wonderful readers. :)**


	4. Chap 4: The Big Guns

**Authors' Updates: **Two days in a row! Hows that for updates? Anyhow there probably won't be any updates until friday because the next two days I've got stuff going on. Thank you to all of you who are reading. Enjoy. :)

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Cigar smoke curled around Hannibal's head as he lifted the massive flare gun from his shoulder. It was impressive in the dark, even though all it did would be to launch a giant exploding sparkler in the air, making a loud noise. Right now it was for show, not tell. "In fact, I think it would be a better idea if you all just went home tonight."

All the boys turned and pulled guns of their own, all of them but Bobby who stayed frozen in place looking at Charissa and then at B.A. who was just to the right of him. He sat her gun down on the ground and lifted his hands behind his head having no idea if these guys were cops or just some do gooders or friends of hers, though the way she was looking at the big guy he was certain they all knew eachother.

"He's got a big gun Ricky… maybe we should listen to him." One of the boys stated with a very unsteady voice.

"I ain't scared of you Pops. What you gonna do beat us down with your cane?"

B.A. shook his head and stepped forward, "Yeah fool and I'm the cane." He stated, smacking his fist into the palm of his hand, "Now get. I'm sure all y'alls Mommas are wonderin' where their little boys are." He instructed.

Some of the boys scattered then, but Ricky and two others stuck, Bobby stood in place because he really didn't know what to do and he wondered if these men knew where his little brother was… he had promised to take care of him after all.

"We're your nightmares." Murdock said, eyes a little wild as he hefted an even larger gun and pointed it at them. This one was real - practically a rocket launcher - but wasn't primed for use, so nothing would happen. Still, the thing was almost as big as one of the kids.

That did the trick, the fact the skinny guy was holding something bigger than the others made the rest turn tails and run.

"An' we better not hear of any trouble caused by any of you!" B.A. called after them.

Charissa sagged against the wall, the back of her head hurt, but other than that and being scared for her life she was no worse for the wear.

Bobby shifted nervously and slowly lowered his hands and looked at the men and their big guns worriedly, " I… I need to find my brother… have you… um… seen him?" He glanced at Charissa and looked down at the ground, "Sorry about all that, I didn't know…"

She moved forward to the boy and picked her gun up and her badge that one of them had dropped as they ran and returned them to their rightful places on her person, "I don't blame you, and it's not me you need to apologize to, it's your little brother. He's safe at the Center." She assured him.

Murdock turned to Hannibal. "Can I put this down now?" he almost whined. Hannibal nodded and Murdock dropped it to his feet. It made a beeping noise and lit up a little, revealing it to be a child's toy.

Face hurried to Sosa and took her shoulders. "What did you think you were doing!"

Bobby arched a brow at the fact the gun the skinny guy had was merely a toy, "Wow." He commented, and decided that he would not be going back to that gang at all.

B.A. took the kid aside and began giving him a talking to and instructing him that he could spend some time volunteering at the Center to stay out of further trouble.

Her first instinct was to of course protest that she knew exactly what she had been doing, but she hadn't and it was a hard pill for her to swallow, "I'm sorry." Her voice sounded as small as it felt, "I just... just thought I could…" She didn't finish the sentence; she had no excuse, nothing for this mess up. Instead she averted her eyes from him and looked down.

Hannibal thrust the flare gun into Face's hands and told Murdock to get everyone in the van. He didn't have to grab Sosa to let her know that she was staying with him.

Bobby watched the woman and the good looking man as the big guy, B.A. as he referred to himself as talked to him. He had been right, she did have someone and there was something more here than just do gooders, they all knew one another well it seemed.

B.A. led the kid to the van and told him to stay in the back with Murdock and allowed Face up front, He gave a glance to Sosa that was filled with both pity and annoyance as he got into the driver's side and drove off once everyone was in and buckled up properly and headed back towards the Center to reunite the two brothers and make sure they got home okay.

Charissa stayed back with Hannibal, she knew what was coming and said nothing. This wasn't going to be pretty or nice… and considering this wasn't the first time she had screwed up she was bracing herself for the worst. She had never seen Hannibal's temper exactly, but she had a funny feeling she was about to get the front row experience.

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**Well the guys saved the day! But now Charissa has to answer for her not so smart decision making. Be warned Hannibal is not very happy. So get yourself geared up for the next chapter when he gives Charissa a piece of his mind.**

**Now see that little button down there? The one that says review? Push it... you know you want to, everyone is doing it. Come on now. ;)**


	5. Chap 5: Not Even Close

**Authors' Notes: **We're almost done, just this chapter and the next one and be warned, you're about to see Hannibal pissed off. Remember how pissed he was about Morrison? Well... this isn't quite the same scenerio, but it gives an idea. Now for a quick reply to an anon reader/reviewer. :)

Ladyranger91: Thank you! Glad you like it, we try to make homage to the series a little bit by having similiar type adventures now and then with the new crew. :)

Now on with the show...

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"Walk with me, Captain." Hannibal said sternly, as he turned and led her back towards the community center. He was normally a patient man, but this was testing his limits.

"I do feel sorry for her." Murdock admitted, as they pulled into the community center and Bobby rushed in with B.A. to find his little brother.

Face nodded in agreement.

Charissa did as told quietly and walked next to him and waited for the verbal onslaught that she was sure that was about to come. She didn't even try to defend herself, it was like this experience had brought to home some facts they had all been trying to make her understand for some time now. She did however hold her head up, she knew showing weakness wouldn't fly right now and it wasn't like her to show any as it was.

B.A. nodded, "Yeah, but she's got it comin'." He stated as they watched the two brothers, the elder apologizing profusely to the younger and making many promises to make up for everything.

"How could you even THINK of doing something this foolish?" Hannibal said, his voice tight, quick and loud; it took years of self-control to learn not to scream these things. "Knowing how much danger you could be in! This isn't some kind of game, Sosa - this isn't the army, this isn't rushing headlong just because you've got a gun - which, by the way, they got off you pretty easily." he soured. "If you want to be a member of my team, you had damn better well start acting like it; this is your last chance." he gave her a solid stare - full of cold fury and absolute control. "Your very - last - chance. If you go running off like this again I will not go after you. And I will not let Face to go after you, either. He's not expendable. Don't make yourself expendable, Captain Sosa, because if you do, I guarentee you it will be the end."

She had been yelled at before, but for some reason this cut deeper than any other… even ones from her own Father. She looked at Hannibal once he was finished, "I've learned my lesson, Sir." Was all she said, "It won't happen again." It was the truth, she knew now she had to back down, follow orders… something that had never been easy for her. But easy wasn't worth it and this, this was worth it. She knew by all rights she could tell Smith to stuff it and go on and never look back, but she was in too deep for that now for more reasons than just Face.

"No you damned well haven't learned your lesson." Hannibal rounded on her, hands clamped down on her shoulders. "Talk is cheap, it's fucking cheap," he swore, anger breaking through the calm facade, "and what I want most is for you to shut your mouth and prove it to me, soldier."

Prove it. Show it. Actions. She had almost forgot about that with Hannibal. He wanted to see it, words were nothing to him… words had never doing anything for him after all. She looked at the man, studied him and wondered if some part of him would never trust her no matter what she did or didn't do and if that part of him had grown just a little more thanks to this recent stunt. She also wondered if some of his anger was worry as well… but she didn't ask, that was none of her business. She knew without a doubt that Murdock and B.A. had been worried and Face was an obvious, but the Colonel was much harder to read. As they reached the entrance of Center she held back and let him go in first as a sign of respect to his higher status.

Hannibal knew he wouldn't cool down for several hours but he tried not to show it.

Face gave her a grave look and shook his head as she came near him: she wasn't finished yet.

She sighed, she had figured Face would be wanting to put his two cents worth in, but frankly Hannibal had yelled enough for all four of them in her opinion. She took it like the soldier she was from the Colonel because he had that right and she deserved it, but of course some part of her was still defiant towards it all, it was just her nature. But she shut that part of her up hard and stood there silently next to Face and waited for whatever was to go on now.

B.A. watched Hannibal enter, noticing the Colonel was indeed still hot under the collar and he didn't blame him, "I'll make sure the boys get home safe." He promised the others and escorted them out to his van to do just that.

Murdock went to shut the rest of the center up for the night as Face quickly fixed himself up and stood with Charissa, glancing at Hannibal for further prompts.

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**Yeah... Hannibal isn't done yet. This is after all the second time she's pulled something like this in a manner of speaking (see "Trial by Fire" chapter 8).**

**Don't forget to review. :) And the final chapter will be posted tomorrow. **


	6. Chap 6: Dismissed

**Authors' Notes: **Well we've come to the end of this part. And there will be a small break between this part and the next since we're still working on it, so just be patient and the new story will be up soon. :)

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Hannibal regarded the both of them calmly and coldly, almost cruel. "I expect crazy antics from Murdock. I expect wild bravado from B.A. I don't expect it from you, Captain, and if you ever do so again - " here he looked at Face for the full lesson - "we will not come after you. I will not allow my team to chase you into danger unless you are acting with us, and we are a team. You will be going alone, and you will never see us again. Is. That. Clear."

Charissa actually visibly winced in that moment. She took a step away from Face and stood in perfect attention her eyes looking straight at the Colonel as he spoke, looking away would not be wise she figured as he continued to lay into her. She felt her eyes begin to sting with tears but held them at bay; she had really done it this time. Her shoulders sagged a little as she stood there and took what she knew she deserved and waited patiently for more.

"IS THAT CLEAR?" It was a yell, an angry bark, the first time Hannibal had ever let his temper get away with him since they'd left the army.

"Yes, Sir." She stated soundly and gave him a proper salute before returning to the attention stance once more, her only movement being the rise and fall of chest as she breathed. It hurt, it really did… she hadn't hurt like this in a very long time and her head was ringing now as her slight headache began to grow worse. She really hated being slammed back into walls she decided and then getting yelled at afterwards. She set her jaw tight, bit her tongue and everything she could think of to keep from showing the emotion she was feeling.

Hannibal took in a deep breath, letting it out with a slight shudder. "Good." he continued. "Then we can go on. Face, go home. When Murdock comes back, he's going to fly you home, Sosa."

She still didn't move, training instilled in her to stay at attention until she was formally dismissed by her superior. She didn't like it, but that was how it was. She didn't even glance at Face as he was told to go, she didn't dare. She kept her eyes straight ahead on her superior officer until told otherwise.

B.A. returned in that moment and came in on the tail end of everything and even winced a little himself as he walked into the area they were all in, "Let's go Faceman." He nodded towards the doors as if to say let it go and walk away.

Face nodded quickly and headed out with him. Hannibal and Sosa remained almost frozen in place until Murdock walked in, tentative.

"Murdock. Take her home. To her apartment. Dismissed!" he barked, before rounding on his heel and walking out.

She moved then, gathered her things she had there at the Center and followed Murdock out. She kept her emotions in check still… she wouldn't cry and by the time she would be alone to do so the need would be gone. She had never cried after being yelled at by a superior and she wasn't about to start now. She also knew she was going to have to really watch herself no matter what and even though it was tempting to just hide in D.C. for a while she knew she couldn't and that it wouldn't set well with Hannibal if she did, it would show weakness and it would show him she couldn't behave and do as told. She remained silent for the most part even with Murdock, nodding yes or no when he asked her any questions.

"Come on." he led her to an airstrip he was using. It was quiet at night, and nobody was flying out on Halloween. He chose a small plane that was in a disused hangar for now, doing a brief check before helping Sosa get on. He remained almost as quiet as she.

While they were in the air, he watched the night sky around them. "You know," he said quietly, "the bossman thinks of you as a daughter. That's why he's so scared for you. He looks at us like his team, sure, but we're also...kinda like his kids. He'd kill for us."

She didn't get the same impression as Murdock did concerning herself and Hannibal, but she nodded slowly, "I know. And I knew I screwed up about five minutes after I walked out of the Center." She admitted. She relaxed a little and sat back watching the night sky, "And I am sorry for worrying all of you." And then she kind of smiled, "Though I thought it was pretty funny that Hannibal didn't let Face say anything to me." She mused slightly.

"Naw, the bossman was just worried that Face was gonna say something to spoil his angry mood and make him laugh. Face has always been able to do that." Murdock grinned back.

"Aah." She nodded slowly, "I thought you did that more often?" She was feeling a little easier now and relaxed, Murdock seemed to have that affect, "Or maybe Hannibal figured I didn't need to hear it all again." She offered, liking that much better, "But from now on I figuratively speaking need to leave the badge and D.O.D. attitude at home unless the Boss says otherwise." She stated looking out and seeing what was home in theory come into view, it made her sigh sadly.

"We just need to work as a team, that's all." Murdock patted her on the shoulder before returning his hands to the landing gear, the bright city lights coming up in the window, like fireflies in the night. "It's midnight, Cinderella. Time to go home from the ball."

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_**~SOUND TRACK~**_

_Monsters- Hurricane Bells_

_World on Fire- Sarah McLachlan_

_Stuck in a Moment You Can't Get Out of- U2_

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**The end... for now.**

**Drowsy and I hope you all have a wonderful, fun and spooky Halloween! **


End file.
